Interracial Marriage and Relationships: a Fact Sheet

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Interracial Marriage and Relationships: a Fact Sheet Interracial Marriage and Relationships: A Fact Sheet Race, as well as culture, ethnicity, and religion, are important factors leading to an increase in diversity seen in today’s marriages. Race, as well as culture, ethnicity, and religion, are relating to these differences including how their important factors leading to an increase in diversity families accept the relationship, which can cause seen in today’s marriages. As such, it is difficult increased divorce rates among couples who to isolate the impact of racial differences within a intermarry. marriage. This Fact Sheet highlights trends and Acceptance and commonality of interracial or rates of interracial marriages in American society, and interethnic marriages are related to the community discusses possible explanations of these trends. in which people live. For example, daily proximity and geographic location increases the likelihood of The trends indicate a greater interracial relationships. Other variables that affect the acceptance for relationships number of interracial marriages can include regional between individuals of different differences (including the region’s racial history) and cultural, religious and racial the proportion of racial populations relative to one backgrounds. Nevertheless, couples another. The sex ratio of available partners can also may experience stressors relating affect the possibility of interracial marriage. to these differences including how How recently an individual or group has immigrated their families accept the relationship, to the U.S. can be a predictor of an openness (or which can cause increased divorce resistance) to interracial marriage.1 There appears to rates among couples who intermarry. be a higher interest in preserving traditional cultural norms among recent immigrants. The ability to Trends in Interracial speak English also plays a role in the likeliness of an Relationships and Marriage interracial relationship. America is a nation of incredible diversity, and this diversity has increased significantly in the past 50 years. Because of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and the change in immigration laws, cultural interactions between people in the U.S. have also changed. The trends indicate a greater acceptance for relationships between individuals of different cultural, religious and racial backgrounds. Nevertheless, couples may experience stressors www.healthymarriageinfo.org FS-7-09 Interracial Dating 1980s showed a rapid annual increase, but from the 1990s to the present time, interracial marriage rates Little research exists on interracial dating; however, have declined for some ethnic groups.7 This decline available studies indicate that younger people, can be explained by the influx of immigration during African-American and Caucasian men, college this era (offering more choices of mates within one’s students, people from diverse backgrounds and own culture) and the rise of cohabitation (see section those with a history of interracial dating tend to be on Cohabitation). the most likely to date someone from a different race.2 In general, interracial dating is becoming Out of the 54 million married couples in the U.S., 8 more widely accepted. The Pew Research Center in nearly four million are interracial couples. It is 2007 surveyed adults on interracial dating and found important to note that data taken from the Current an increasing tolerance of dating between Black Population Survey 2003-2006 can show different and White Americans with 83 percent of Americans results depending on how a researcher manipulates agreeing that, “It’s all right for blacks and whites to the racial categories. The numbers can vary from four date.”3 million interracial married couples to over eight million nationally.9 It’s important to note that respondents Interracial Cohabitation were not provided the opportunity to mark one or There are very few studies that address interracial more racial category in the Census reports from 1960 cohabitation. Most in the field can agree, however, until 2000. Over time, the way in which people have that this area should be investigated as cohabitation self-identified with race has changed, often blurring becomes more frequent in the U.S. Research shows the lines between racial categories. This change that cohabiting couples are twice as likely to be could account for some of the incline in interracial interracial or interethnic.4 Multiracial individuals are marriages over the past few decades. more likely than single-race individuals to cohabit Although Hawaii has the highest rate of intermarriage 5 in an interracial relationship. According to Current (a marriage that may be between people of two Population Survey (CPS) data 2003-2006, 25 percent races, cultures or ethnicities), proportionally, of couples cohabiting are mixed race couples, and California, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington the same racial trends for intermarriage also exist for account for the largest numbers of intermarriages.10 interethnic couples living together.6 Scholars point to the rise in cohabitation rates in the U.S. as a possible Interracial Divorce explanation for the decline in interracial marriages. Interracial couples in the United States face unique Interracial and Interethnic Marriage challenges to marital harmony — those that emanate from partners of different backgrounds seeking Since 1960, interracial marriages in the U.S. have increased According to a 2005 report from the federal Center for Health substantially. Prior to Statistics, the rate of divorce for first marriages is slightly that time, less than 1 higher for interracial couples than it is for couples that marry percent of all marriages within their race (31 percent vs. 41 percent at ten years).11 were interracial. The www.healthymarriageinfo.org FS-7-09 common ground, as well as the stresses from being grown from 55,000 in 1960 to 440,000 in 2005, black accepted by family and the larger society. According –white marriage remains the most unlikely racial to a 2005 report from the federal Center for Health combination in the U.S. For example, the number Statistics, the rate of divorce for first marriages is of Hispanic marriages to non-whites (1.75 million) slightly higher for interracial couples than it is for was four times larger than the number of black-white couples that marry within their race (31 percent vs. 41 marriages in 2005. percent at ten years).11 CPS Data 2003-2006 shows that Puerto Ricans are Children of Interracial Marriage the least likely to be in co-ethnic relationships and Mexicans were most likely, with Cubans and Central/ Because of the increase in interracial marriages, South Americans falling in the middle there are more children of bi-racial and multiple racial identities. The number of babies born of mixed-race The rates of interracial marriages between Hispanics has grown 26 times faster than any other group.12 and whites, and between Asians and whites declined During the 2000 census, nearly 6.8 million individuals from 1990-2000.18 This period of time also shows considered themselves to be of two or more races.13 inclines in their respective immigration rates. This trend is expected to continue increasing over the Differences by Gender coming years. Nearly two-thirds of all people who reported more than one race lived in just ten states Since 1960, in general women have been more with California, New York and Texas accounting for 40 likely to intermarry than males within their own races percent of this population.14 (except for black women).19/20 Most recently, data Differences by Subgroup shows that of those who intermarry, black men are more likely to intermarry than black women.21 Recent Differences by Race data also shows that white men are slightly more likely to intermarry than white women, and Native Less than 1 percent of all interracially married American women are more likely to intermarry than couples consist of two non-white spouses. Most Native American men.22 When the CILS (Children interracial couples consist of a white spouse with an of Immigrants Longitudinal Study) regional data was Asian, Hispanic or black spouse.15 Of all races in examined in Southern California, it was discovered the U.S., Native Americans are most likely to marry that females were 1.5 times more likely than males outside of their race and currently have a 56 percent to be in mixed relationships (Note: more than one- intermarriage rate. quarter of all interracial couples live in CA). Asians Asians in the U.S. have an interracial marriage rate show the largest gender gap of all races when it of about 14 percent.16 Of the six largest specific comes to intermarriage. Of Asians who intermarry in Asian groups, Japanese have the highest percentage America, about 75 percent are women and they are (31 percent) with one or more other races or Asian most likely to marry non-Hispanic, white men. groups, while only 8.3 percent of the Vietnamese reported multi-ethnic identities.17 They are followed by blacks (10.4 percent), and whites (3.46 percent). Although the number of black-white marriages has www.healthymarriageinfo.org FS-7-09 when the groups are broken Research has shown that interracial marriage is down by age.25 more common among the middle class and those who are more educated (holding a college degree or Definitions higher). Higher education likely increases exposure Currently, the U.S. Census to individuals from other races/ethnicities, as well as Bureau uses five categories to the idea of and examples of intermarriages. define race: (1) White, (2) Black or African American, (3) American Indian or Alaska Native, (4) Differences by Socioeconomic Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and (5) Status Asian. According to the Census Bureau, Hispanics— Research has shown that interracial marriage is an ethnic group—can be of any race.26 more common among the middle class and those Race – An individual’s race is determined by who are more educated (holding a college degree or phenotypic characteristics such as skin color, hair higher).
Recommended publications
  • Stability and Change in Predictors of Marital Dissolution in the US 1950‐2015: the Rise of Family Inequality
    Stability and Change in Predictors of Marital Dissolution in the US 1950‐2015: The Rise of Family Inequality ©Michael J. Rosenfeld, 2019 Draft Date: 8/2/2019 Michael J.Rosenfeld* Katharina Roesler† Presented at the American Sociological Association meetings in New York August, 2019 * Michael J. Rosenfeld, Department of Sociology, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305. Email: [email protected]. Web: www.stanford.edu/~mrosenfe. Roesler, with feedback from Rosenfeld, prepared (with substantial commitment of time) the harmonized NSFG event history dataset used in the paper. Rosenfeld, with feedback from Roesler, performed the analyses and wrote the paper. Thanks to Soomin Kim, Sonia Hausen, Meghan Warner, Taylor Orth, and Stanford’s Graduate Family Workshop for comments on previous drafts. † Katharina Roesler, Quora Inc., email: [email protected]. Abstract: In this paper, we examine change and stability in the predictors of marital dissolution using 7 decades of data from the National Survey of Family Growth. We find interraciality and premarital cohabitation to have had a stable association with marital dissolution over time. In the post‐2000 era, marital dissolution rates between some high status groups (women with college degrees and women from intact families) have diverged from the marital dissolution rates of lower status groups, indicating increasing inequality in the family system. The divorce gap between black women and white women narrowed after the Civil Rights gains of the 1960s, but after 2000 the racial divorce gap has seemed to widen again. Stability and Change in Predictors of Marital Dissolution in the US 1950‐2015: The Rise of Family Inequality Introduction: From the 1950s to 2015, American patterns of marriage and divorce have undergone enormous change.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relationship Experience of Latina/O-White Couples Dana I
    St. Cloud State University theRepository at St. Cloud State Culminating Projects in Community Psychology, Department of Community Psychology, Counseling Counseling and Family Therapy and Family Therapy 12-2015 The Relationship Experience of Latina/o-White Couples Dana I. Nixon [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cpcf_etds Recommended Citation Nixon, Dana I., "The Relationship Experience of Latina/o-White Couples" (2015). Culminating Projects in Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy. 10. https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cpcf_etds/10 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy at theRepository at St. Cloud State. It has been accepted for inclusion in Culminating Projects in Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy by an authorized administrator of theRepository at St. Cloud State. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Relationship Experience of Latina/o-White Couples by Dana Nixon A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of St. Cloud State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy December, 2015 Thesis Committee: Jennifer Connor, Chairperson Manijeh Daneshpour Tina Sacin 2 Abstract Interethnic Latina/o-white couples are becoming more common, yet little is understood about why these couples stay together or get divorced (Fu & Wolfinger, 2011; Garcia, Riggio, Palavinelu, & Culpepper, 2012; Qian & Lichter, 2007). This study uses phenomenology methodology to better understand their lived experience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five Latino-white couples and one Latina-white couple. The five themes discovered include interethnic couple identity; combining languages; external support of the relationship; external stressors of the relationship; and partaking in the partner’s culture.
    [Show full text]
  • Penumbras, Privacy, and the Death of Morals-Based Legislation: Comparing U.S
    Fordham International Law Journal Volume 27, Issue 1 2003 Article 12 Penumbras, Privacy, and the Death of Morals-Based Legislation: Comparing U.S. Constitutional Law with the Inherent Right of Privacy in Islamic Jurisprudence Seema Saifee∗ ∗ Copyright c 2003 by the authors. Fordham International Law Journal is produced by The Berke- ley Electronic Press (bepress). http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj Penumbras, Privacy, and the Death of Morals-Based Legislation: Comparing U.S. Constitutional Law with the Inherent Right of Privacy in Islamic Jurisprudence Seema Saifee Abstract In an effort to separate the Islamic regulatory scheme with respect to the criminalization of consensual sexual conduct from the caricature espoused by many Western thinkers, this Note pro- vides a comparative analysis of the criminalization of private consensual sexual conduct in Islamic law and U.S. constitutional jurisprudence on the right of privacy. Part I provides a brief background of Islamic and U.S. criminal regulations on consensual sex and outlines the evolution of consti- tutional privacy jurisprudence in the U.S. Supreme Court. Part II first examines the evidentiary and procedural requirements pertaining to the criminalization of consensual sexual intercourse in Islamic law, explores the consequences of transgressing these evidentiary requirements, and ana- lyzes the theological and privacy-related constraints on initiating suits for engaging in such private conduct. Part II then applies these regulations to the recent case of Amina Lawal in northern Nigeria, and analyzes Islamic regulations governing sexual activity not amounting to intercourse. Finally, Part II examines an alternative reading of the U.S. Supreme Court’s current analysis of privacy as articulated in Lawrence v.
    [Show full text]
  • United States District Court Southern District of Ohio Western Division
    Case: 1:13-cv-00501-TSB Doc #: 65 Filed: 12/23/13 Page: 1 of 50 PAGEID #: <pageID> UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO WESTERN DIVISION JAMES OBERGEFELL, et al., : Case No. 1:13-cv-501 Plaintiffs, : Judge Timothy S. Black : vs. : : THEODORE E. WYMYSLO, M.D., et al., : Defendants. : FINAL ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION This civil case is before the Court for final decision on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Declaratory Judgment and Permanent Injunction (Doc. 53), the record evidence (Docs. 34, 42-47, 61; see Appendix at pp. 49-50i), Defendants’ memorandum in opposition (Doc. 56), Plaintiffs’ reply (Doc. 62), and oral argument held on December 18, 2013. Plaintiffs include two individuals who entered into legal same-sex marriages in states that provide for such marriages and have been denied recognition of those legal marriages on their spouses’ death certificates by the State of Ohio. Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that, as applied to them, Ohio’s ban on the recognition of legal same-sex marriages granted in other states is unconstitutional; and, therefore, that a permanent injunction compelling Defendants and their officers to recognize Plaintiffs’ marriages on Ohio death certificates is required under the law and the evidence. Also present as a Plaintiff is Robert Grunn, an Ohio funeral director, who seeks a declaration of his rights and duties when preparing death certificates for individuals in same-sex marriages. Defendants are the local and state officers responsible
    [Show full text]
  • Inside Interracial Marriages: Accounts of Black-White Couples
    INSIDE INTERRACIAL MARRIAGES: ACCOUNTS OF BLACK-WHITE COUPLES By Angela S. Donnell Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Family and Child Development Approved: ____________________________ Gloria W. Bird, Ph.D. ___________________________ ____________________________ Cosby S. Rogers, Ph.D. Michael J. Sporakowski, Ph.D. December, 1998 Blacksburg, Virginia i INSIDE INTERRACIAL MARRIAGES: ACCOUNTD OF BLACK-WHITE COUPLES By Angela S. Donnell (ABSTRACT) The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the chronic daily concerns that eight self-identified Black-White interracial couples described as stressful and to identify the coping strategies that they utilized to reduce feelings of distress. Another goal of this study was to discover the actions that these eight couples took to maintain marital satisfaction. This investigation consisted of a total of 24 interviews, 16 individual and 8 couple interviews, based on the research questions guided by stress and coping theory. Couples identified three chronic stressors: Worrying About Children, Wanting to be Accepted, and Building a Successful Marriage; Nine coping strategies were identified: Distancing, Putting Family First, Problem-Solving, Accepting of Problems, Having Faith in God, Denial, Communicating With Spouse, Positive Reframing/Reflecting, and Escaping. Five maintenance behaviors were identified as well: Having Couple/Family Time, Communicating, Being Considerate, Getting Away Together, and Planning/Remembering Special Occasions. ii Acknowledgments There are many people that I wish to thank for helping me through the process of completing this study. I thank the members of my committee, Dr. Cosby Rogers and Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Emerging Paradigms in Critical Mixed Race Studies G
    Emerging Paradigms in Critical Mixed Race Studies G. Reginald Daniel, Laura Kina, Wei Ming Dariotis, and Camilla Fojas Mixed Race Studies1 In the early 1980s, several important unpublished doctoral dissertations were written on the topic of multiraciality and mixed-race experiences in the United States. Numerous scholarly works were published in the late 1980s and early 1990s. By 2004, master’s theses, doctoral dissertations, books, book chapters, and journal articles on the subject reached a critical mass. They composed part of the emerging field of mixed race studies although that scholarship did not yet encompass a formally defined area of inquiry. What has changed is that there is now recognition of an entire field devoted to the study of multiracial identities and mixed-race experiences. Rather than indicating an abrupt shift or change in the study of these topics, mixed race studies is now being formally defined at a time that beckons scholars to be more critical. That is, the current moment calls upon scholars to assess the merit of arguments made over the last twenty years and their relevance for future research. This essay seeks to map out the critical turn in mixed race studies. It discusses whether and to what extent the field that is now being called critical mixed race studies (CMRS) diverges from previous explorations of the topic, thereby leading to formations of new intellectual terrain. In the United States, the public interest in the topic of mixed race intensified during the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama, an African American whose biracial background and global experience figured prominently in his campaign for and election to the nation’s highest office.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Interracial and Inter-Ethnic Marriage and Cohabitation and Self
    RESEARCH REPORT SERIES (Survey Methodology #2018-03) Interracial and Inter-ethnic Marriage and Cohabitation and Self-Rated Health Lucia C. Lykke Michael S. Rendall1 1University of Maryland, College Park Center for Survey Measurement Research and Methodology Directorate U.S. Census Bureau Washington, D.C. 20233 Report issued: April 2, 2018 Disclaimer: This report is released to inform interested parties of research and to encourage discussion of work in progress. Any views expressed on the methodological issues are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the U.S. Census Bureau. Abstract Despite increases in interracial and inter-ethnic relationships in the United States, few studies have investigated associations between partner race/ethnicity and health. We do so using the 1996, 2001, 2004, and 2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (292,411 combined years of observation). We analyze self-rated health in cross-section and at two time points one-year apart in marital and cohabiting relationships. Having a White partner is associated with higher self-rated health for Hispanic, Black, and Asian men and women, relative to having a partner of one’s own race/ethnicity. For White women, but not for White men, having a non-White partner is associated with worse self-rated health. We interpret these findings as contrary to stress theories of the adverse impact of interracial and inter-ethnic partnership on health, and more consistent instead with gendered social-status and economic-resource theories. Keywords: self-rated health; marriage and cohabitation; interracial relationships; partner race Suggested Citation: Lucia C. Lykke, Michael S.
    [Show full text]
  • Interracial Marriage: Who Is ‘Marrying Out’? | Pew Research Center Page 1 of 9
    Interracial marriage: Who is ‘marrying out’? | Pew Research Center Page 1 of 9 JUNE 12, 2015 Interracial marriage: Who is ‘marrying out’? BY WENDY WANG (HTTP://WWW.PEWRESEARCH.ORG/STAFF/WENDY-WANG/) (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2015/06/12/interracial-marriage-who-is- marrying-out/ft_15-06-12-interracial/) Today marks the 48th anniversary of the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia (http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/race/061367race-ra.html) , which struck down all anti- miscegenation laws remaining in 16 states. Interracial marriages have increased steadily since then. In 2013, a record-high 12% of newlyweds married someone of a different race, according to a Pew Research Center analysis (http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/06/11/chapter-5-race-and-social-connections-friends- family-and-neighborhoods/#race-marriage-and-intermarriage) of census data. (This share does not take into account the “interethnic” marriages between Hispanics and non-Hispanics, which we covered in an earlier report on intermarriage (http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/02/16/the-rise-of-intermarriage/) .) Looking beyond newlyweds, 6.3% of all marriages were between spouses of different races in 2013, up from less than 1% in 1970. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/12/interracial-marriage-who-is-marrying-out/ Interracial marriage: Who is ‘marrying out’? | Pew Research Center Page 2 of 9 Some racial groups are more likely to intermarry than others. Of the 3.6 million adults who got married in 2013, 58% of American Indians, 28% of Asians, 19% of blacks and 7% of whites have a spouse whose race was different from their own.
    [Show full text]
  • Muslim First, Arab Second.” the Voices of These fifteen Youths Do Not Reflect Debates on Identity Among All Bay Area Muslims
    M F, A S BlackwellOxford,MUWOThe0027-4909©October954ORIGINAL 2005 Muslim HartfordUK 2005 Publishing, ARTICLEWorld Seminary Ltd. MuslimThe Muslim First, World Arab Second Volume 95 October 2005 First, Arab Second: A Strategic Politics of Race and Gender Nadine Naber University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan his article focuses on the deployment of one specific identity category, “Muslim First — Arab Second,” emergent among Arab American TMuslims in San Francisco, California.1 I argue elsewhere that the racialization of Islam within U.S. state and corporate media discourses, particularly in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution, has provided a socio-historical context that makes the emergence of “Muslim First” as a collective identity possible.2 Here I focus on how Muslim student activists have utilized this category as a strategy for articulating Muslim identities in their everyday lives. The narratives behind “Muslim First” are also gendered, deployed by many youths who argue that they provide a broad ideological framework for confronting and reconfiguring family relationships, in particular, their immigrant parents’ constructions of masculinity, femininity, and marriage. I also contend that intersections of race and gender are central to the articulation of “Muslim First” identities. When it comes to interracial marriage, for example, “Islam” becomes a vehicle for unsettling parental authority when parents inhibit their daughters from marrying across racial lines. My argument is that young Arab American Muslims who opt for “Muslim First”
    [Show full text]
  • The Putative Spouse and Marriage by Estoppel Doctrines: an "End Run Around Marriage" Or Just a Marriage?
    Child and Family Law Journal Volume 8 Issue 1 Article 3 3-27-2020 The Putative Spouse and Marriage by Estoppel Doctrines: An "End Run Around Marriage" or Just a Marriage? Dana E. Prescott, Esq., Ph.D Follow this and additional works at: https://lawpublications.barry.edu/cflj Part of the Elder Law Commons, Family Law Commons, Juvenile Law Commons, and the Other Law Commons Recommended Citation Prescott, Esq., Ph.D, Dana E. (2020) "The Putative Spouse and Marriage by Estoppel Doctrines: An "End Run Around Marriage" or Just a Marriage?," Child and Family Law Journal: Vol. 8 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://lawpublications.barry.edu/cflj/vol8/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Barry Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Child and Family Law Journal by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Barry Law. The Putative Spouse and Marriage by Estoppel Doctrines: An “End Run Around Marriage” or Just a Marriage? Dana E. Prescott, Esq., Ph.D* I. INTRODUCTION For generations in the United States, each state determined the definition of a legally recognized marriage.1 Indeed, the United States Supreme Court long ago held that marriage “has always been subject to the control of the [state] legislature.”2 For the most part, these early notions of “federalism”3 permitted states to constrain the definition of a lawful marriage. States did so without much public controversy; at least when consistent with socially and legally *Dana E. Prescott is licensed to practice in Maine and Massachusetts and a partner with Prescott, Jamieson, & Murphy Law Group LLC, Saco, Maine.
    [Show full text]
  • I Stella M. Gran-O'donn
    Being, Belonging, and Connecting: Filipino Youths’ Narratives of Place(s) and Wellbeing in Hawai′i Stella M. Gran-O’Donnell A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2016 Reading Committee: Karina L. Walters, Chair Tessa A. Evans Campbell Lynne C. Manzo Program Authorized to Offer Degree: School of Social Work © Copyright 2016 Stella M. Gran-O’Donnell University of Washington Abstract Being, Belonging, and Connecting: Filipino Youths’ Narratives of Place(s) and Wellbeing in Hawai′i Stella M. Gran-O’Donnell Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Karina L. Walters School of Social Work Background: Environmental climate change is an urgent concern for Pacific Islanders with significant impact on place along with bio-psycho-social-cultural-spiritual influences likely to affect communities’ wellbeing. Future generations will bear the burden. Indigenous scholars have begun to address climate-based place changes; however, immigrant Pacific Islander populations have been ignored. Although Filipinos are one of the fastest growing U.S. populations, the second largest immigrant group, and second largest ethnic group in Hawai’i, lack of understanding regarding their physical health and mental wellbeing remains, especially among youth. This dissertation addresses these gaps. In response to Kemp’s (2011) and Jack’s (2010, 2015) impassioned calls for the social work profession to advance place research among vulnerable populations, this qualitative study examined Filipino youths’ (15-23) experiences of place(s) and geographic environment(s) in Hawai′i. Drawing on Indigenous worldviews, this study examined how youth narrate their sense of place, place attachments, ethnic/cultural identity/ies, belonging, connectedness to ancestral (Philippines) and contemporary homelands (Hawai’i), virtual environment(s), and how these places connect to wellbeing.
    [Show full text]
  • How Mixed-Race Americans Navigated the Racial Codes of Antebellum America
    James Madison University JMU Scholarly Commons Masters Theses, 2020-current The Graduate School 5-7-2020 Under cover of lightness: How mixed-race Americans navigated the racial codes of Antebellum America Alexander Brooks Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/masters202029 Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Brooks, Alexander, "Under cover of lightness: How mixed-race Americans navigated the racial codes of Antebellum America" (2020). Masters Theses, 2020-current. 48. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/masters202029/48 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the The Graduate School at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses, 2020-current by an authorized administrator of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Under Cover of Lightness: How Mixed-Race Americans Navigated the Racial Codes of Antebellum America Alex Brooks A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of History May 2020 FACULTY COMMITTEE: Committee Chair: Rebecca Brannon Committee Members/ Readers: Gabrielle Lanier David Owusu-Ansah Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Miscegenation 3. North 4. Upper South 5. Lower South 6. 1850s Turbulence 7. Liberia 8. Conclusion ii Abstract This thesis investigates the way people of mixed “racial” ancestry—known as mulattoes in the 18th and 19th centuries—navigated life in deeply racially divided society. Even understanding “mulatto strategies” is difficult because it is to study a group shrouded in historical ambiguity by choice.
    [Show full text]